Sakura Blossoms
by M. L. Chi
Summary: Only the dead or dying smelled of sakura blossoms. And Rin smelled like sakura blossoms. NOT ROMANCE!


The warm breeze rolled over the lush field in a calm, mellow way. It barely ruffled her raven black hair but it did, and along with ruffling her hair, it brought to him the scent of her. Rain, sunshine, and sakura blossoms. He compared it to the scent he'd known when he first met her. Lilies, apples, sunshine and water. It was different now but there was the sakura blossoms instead of the lilies and the apples were gone. The water had been replaced by rain as well. However changes in scent were common, not something to be concerned over, well that was unless sakura blossoms were involved in some way, then there was room for concern.

Sakura blossoms equaled death. That was the only way to truly explain it. The thing was, Rin had had this scent since the time his mother had revived her. It was confusing and it messed with his nose more than once. Somehow Sesshomaru managed to live through all the times he'd mistaken Rin's scent for his enemies and turn his back to them. Somehow her scent managed to break through his wall of perfection.

There was another thing that concerned Sesshomaru. It was the black shadow that clung to Rin. Was it death? No matter what it was, it definitely left him wondering what the woman who traveled with him was and what were her motives. What did she think? Did she know she carried something everywhere she went? Or was she completely oblivious to the things that clung to her petite form.

He pulled himself back from his thoughts of the girl and found her brown eyes watching him. What did she want? It was obvious she wanted something but what it was she would have to verbally communicate to him. Not that that should've been any problem. When she was younger, the only time she was quiet was when she was sleeping. To say the least, it had been annoying. Now as an adult, she was much quieter. Perhaps she had picked up on Sesshomaru's quiet way.

"Speak your mind." Rin blushed at this, she must've thought he hadn't noticed her staring.

"Rin wondered what Sesshomaru-sama was thinking." It was a habit she'd never broken, that speaking in third-person. It made him wonder if perhaps the shadow was the one that spoke and she was the one who supplied it the words. What absurdity was his mind coming up with now?

"Nothing that concerns you."

"Rin understands that Sesshomaru-sama. She knows that Sesshomaru-sama doesn't share his important thoughts with silly girls like Rin. Rin was simply curious about what her lord was thinking, she expected no answer so she came up in her own little mind some things to satisfy her curiosity with." Sesshomaru resisted the natural urge to sigh at the girls strange behavior. She was truly peculiar, even without the scent of sakura wafting from her.

* * *

Sesshomaru walked into the small village his brother and his miko called home. Kagome was there, waiting for him as he assumed she would be. He never understood some of Kagome's strange behaviors, then again, he didn't understand his brothers actions either. It was a perfect fit. Two people he couldn't decipher.

Kagome, when he first met her, he thought she was some tramp. The first impressions that he left on her were very far away from being good. He didn't like her and didn't think she would last long by the side of his brother.

Inuyasha was strange just to begin with. His first love was a miko who threatened to kill him(then again his second love had the power to subdue him). He even loved the miko even after she was a walking corpse. A corpse that smelled of earth and sakura flowers. Oh, the irony. His younger-brother had been plagued by a thing that smelled of sakura and now he too was plagued by another one.

"Rin was fine. She seems much more distant and perhaps even a little sad. Have you thought of leaving her permanently in a human village? I think it'd do her a lot of good," Kagome said with a small smile. This was normal, she always gave him reports on how Rin fared during her time in the village. Though he'd never asked Kagome too, he appreciated the effort.

"No, I've never thought it was needed."

"I see."

Kagome, decked out in a traditional miko's outfit led him to the hut she shared with Inuyasha. She was also leading him to Rin, knowing that she would be there. Whether or not she had been there before coming to wait for him or it was just naturel intuition, Rin was there. It didn't surprise Sesshomaru to see a look of distance in her eyes. Rin was always distant. Perhaps that was why Kagome had suggested it. It would be quite concerning for a normal human. Rin, however, was no normal human. While being separated from Rin, he'd gone to Bokusenou for information regarding his ward.

* * *

"Do you know why I am here, Bokusenou?" Sesshomaru said with a slight tint of humor. He knew that Bokusenou knew, well he assumed the tree did. He was quite a knowledgeable being, for a tree or any being. How he knew what he knew, Sesshomaru knew not but appreciated the fact he had almost unlimited access to it.

"Of course, Sesshomaru-sama; I know exactly why you are here. You question the young woman under your care, the one that smells of sakura blossoms and is wrapped in shadows." The gasp from behind Sesshomaru was Jaken's. The toad never paid attention to Rin and her oddities so this was the first he'd heard of this.

"Yes, Bokusenou, that is exactly why I am here. Now, do you care to explain?"

"You know that sakura blossoms are what the dead or dying smell like. So do those that have returned to from the death more than once. Once isn't natural either but it can happen, twice should never happen. The soul is gone, their heart closed off forever. What they would grow up to be was erased, they have no fate. Only they are the ones that can write their fate. They end up being disgusting creatures that are as bad as demons, sometimes even worse. Rin is unnatural, her existence is unnatural. If you want to know what is best for her, kill her. Her soul will finally find it's peace instead of watching in concern over her corpse. I know not whether you will chose to do this or not but my recommendation will always be that she dies. I beg you to consider it milord."

"Hn. Good day Bokusenou." Sesshomaru turned to walk away, mulling over the information provided by the tree. Rin had no soul? She was but a walking corpse? Was that what that shadow was; her soul?

"For the record milord, that shadow is exactly what you think it is; her soul."

* * *

"Rin, it is time we leave." Her brown eyes flicked to his and Sesshomaru saw the lifelessness that hung within them. How had he been so blind to this little fact? He saw these eyes so often yet somehow they had never struck him as off. Well, it appeared he couldn't pride himself on being extremely observant.

Rin stood, it wasn't graceful and it wasn't clunky, it wasn't anything, it just happened. Her lips didn't move to say anything. There were no goodbyes to the people who'd housed her for the few days before. He held her gaze the entire time, trying to figure out what was going on within her head. He saw loose screws and unhinged doors, that was what caused him to look away. He, fearless lord of the west, looked away first! Bokusenou was right, Rin shouldn't have existed. That would have made up his mind had he not already done that when the tree had told him what that shadow was.

She followed him on light feet as they walked away from the forest. The smell of sakura was almost over-powering and the decision he'd made earlier hanging over his head and weighing down on his shoulders.

"Rin, what do you feel?" Perhaps if she felt something, he could change his decision.

"Nothing, milord." No, he couldn't change his decision. He did things only if he had a reason to.

"In your heart, what do you feel?" They had stopped but Rin never grew confused or concerned. She must've known that he was grasping for anything now.

"Nothing, milord, nothing at all." That was it, that sealed his decision. He could not go back on it. He **would** not go back on it.


End file.
